Cacturne
by Thedeadlymillipede
Summary: A short story about the Pokemon with one of the creepiest Pokedex entries ever.


So, you think you know Pokemon?  
You think it's a world where people and Pokemon live together and no harm is caused.  
You thought wrong, you thought very wrong.

A new Pokemon trainer was travelling through the Hoenn region, he didn't catch too many Pokemon and only caught ones he knew he would bond with. So far he had a Marshtomp, a Linoone and a Swellow. He loved his Pokemon and treated them as his family. It was all good fun for the trainer, at least, until he met Cacturne. The trainer had always found something shifty about that Pokemon, its beady eyes piercing into your soul like a sharp knife through soft butter. Its stature always made it look like a bandit from a Western movie, it looked like it could sneak up on you at any time and rob you blind, or shoot you with its Pin Missile attack.  
The first time the trainer saw a Cacturne up close was when they got their new goggles that allowed them to travel through the desert called route 111 without getting blind from the sandstorm. They were walking along the dunes when they saw it. The Pokemon stood its ground, its head slowly turning, following the trainer as he walked past. It gave the trainer chills and he constantly checked behind his back to see if it was following him. It hadn't moved an inch, but it still glared at him, as if it was plotting something cruel.  
After a while of battling other trainers the trainer was forced to head back to the Pokemon center in Mauville City because his Marshtomp and his Swellow were badly hurt and tired from battling. He left them there so that they could get healed up and decided to spend time with his Linoone, his most recent Pokemon. He headed out to the desert again, it was almost dusk and a lot of Pokemon trainers had left. However, this trainer was determined to train his Pokemon. The sand storm had died down and the trainer saw this as an advantage to keep Linoone out of its Pokeball so he could bond with it. Linoone's cream fur glistened in the setting sunlight, its feet happily keeping up with the trainer.  
The sky turned into a fiery orange and small clouds began to appear. Despite the fading sun the desert was still roasting hot, everything felt calm and relaxing. He had made sure not to wander too far off incase he got lost, he would stay closr to the entrance to the desert incase anything happened.

The Pokemon trainer began to search for more trainers to battle when he heard something behind him, he turned around sharply to see a Claydol, it bobbed around the trainer, he had always liked this Pokemon and wanted to add one to his team. Suddenly the Claydol began to float away from him, it was much faster than he imagined it would be. He ran after it, his Linoone trying to keep up. He realised that they would never catch up to it like this and ordered his Linoone to use Fury Swipes. A streak of white shot past him, Linoone lept into the air aiming at the Claydol. It missed. They continued to chase the Pokemon, it kept switching directions every now and then, going left and right, East and West. They ran for a while, the trainer was running out of energy and waited at the right moment for another strike. He ordered another Fury Swipes at just the right moment. The attack finally hit, knocking the Claydol into the air, it recovered quickly and flew behind the trainer. He halted and turned around, getting ready to order another attack. But the Claydol had gone. It must have used Teleport.

Then they realised they were lost.

They hadn't payed attention to their surroundings, there was no sign of a city, no way of telling what direction the way back was and everything looked the same. They must have been in an unregistered part of the desert where they weren't allowed to go. The only thing they could do was hope they were going in the right direction and wander back. The trainer decided to walk to save his energy, he had no idea how far out he was. He also kept Linoone out for company. Apart from the wind blowing softly there was no sound, the atmosphere was unsettling and the trainer was unsure of if he was doing the right thing.  
He felt a sudden precence. His Linoone's body stiffened, it let out a quiet growl. The trainer saw something through the corner of his eye, turning around he saw, standing on the cliff of a small rocky crevice, a shillouette of a mysterious figure looking down at him with villianus eyes. It sent chills down his spine to think that something was watching him. They had to keep moving.

Despite the sky turning purple and dark, there was still a precense of the sun's heat. Both the trainer and his Pokemon were getting tired. They had been walking for hours, beads of sweat appeared on the trainer's brow. He looked forward to the night because it would be cool and refreshing, but he also feared it because he might not be able to see where he's going. The sun got lower and lower and all the while the trainer still felt those eyes staring at him with cruel intent. They walked for what felt like a decade, the trainer's stomach growled. He sighed and searched his back pack for some food. He didn't find any but he did find Linoone's Pokeball, he thought about returning it inside where it would be safe from the heat and it would no longer have to walk. He turned around with a false smile on his face and was about to ask Linoone if it would like to return. Only Linoone wasn't there. There was no sign of it. Not even its footprints in the sand. It must have been gone a while and he hadn't noticed.  
He called out desperatly for it, his weak voice blown away by the soft wind. There was no reply. With no company, he felt lonely and vunerable. He looked behind his back and could make out something. Standing on a large hill of sand in the distance were three shillouetes watching him. The trainer knew that he was going the wrong way, but he didn't dare turn back incase what ever was watching him would get him. He had to get as far away from them as possible. The sky had finally faded to black and a few clouds had blocked the moon, making everything dark. The trainer's eyelids started to feel heavy, his mind was telling him that he needed to sleep but he had to keep moving. He coudln't take it any more, his muscles ached, he has starving and he was exhausted. He collapsed onto his side, his eyes had closed, his mind was becoming dizzy.  
No matter how desperatly he tried, the trainer wouldn't stand up, his body simply ignored him. He lay there for a while, trying to stay conciouse. The clouds had moved away and the moon shon, the only light source in the desert. A shadow loomed over him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw what had been following him.

Cacturne.

A whole gang of Cacturne shuffled towards him like a horde of zombies and all he could do was watch with fear. They circled him, staring down at him with cruel smirks on their faces. The trainer's vision began to fade. The last thing he saw was a Cacturne's arms getting ready to grab him. Then everything went black. 


End file.
